By TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan
Last Week's Tournaments
Brasil Open (ATP - Clay - Costa do Sauipe, Brazil)
- Singles Final: Nicolas Almagro def. Carlos Moya 7-6, 3-6, 7-5.
- Singles Semifinal: Carlos Moya def. Nicolas Lapentti 6-2, 3-6, 7-6.
- Singles Semifinal: Nicolas Almagro def. Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-1.
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Final: Marcelo Melo/Andre Sa def. Albert Montanes/Santiago Ventura 4-6, 6-2, 10-7.
- Doubles Semifinal: Marcelo Melo/Andre Sa def. Thomaz Bellucci/Marcos Daniel 6-4, 6-2.
- Doubles Semifinal: Albert Montanes/Santiago Ventura def. Fabio Fognini/Filippo Volandri 6-0, 6-2.
- Doubles Bracket
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships (ATP - Hard - Delray Beach, United States)
- Singles Final: Kei Nishikori def. James Blake 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
- Singles Semifinal: James Blake def. Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4.
- Singles Semifinal: Kei Nishikori def. Sam Querrey 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Final: Max Mirnyi/Jamie Murray def. Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.
- Doubles Semifinal: Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan def. Mardy Fish/Mark Knowles 7-5, 4-6, 10-5.
- Doubles Semifinal: Max Mirnyi/Jamie Murray def. Stephen Huss/Alex Kuznetsov 7-5, 6-1.
- Doubles Bracket
Open 13 (ATP - Indoor Hard - Marseille, France)
- Singles Final: Andy Murray def. Mario Ancic 6-3, 6-4.
- Singles Semifinal: Andy Murray def. Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-2.
- Singles Semifinal: Mario Ancic def. Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-2.
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Final: Martin Damm/Pavel Vizner def. Yves Allegro/Jeff Coetzee 7-6, 7-5.
- Doubles Semifinal: Martin Damm/Pavel Vizner def. Simon Aspelin/Julian Knowle 4-6, 7-6, 10-8.
- Doubles Semifinal: Yves Allegro/Jeff Coetzee def. Julien Benneteau/Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 5-7, 10-6.
- Doubles Bracket
Proximus Diamond Games (WTA - Indoor Hard - Antwerp, Belgium)
- Singles Final: Justine Henin def. Karin Knapp 6-3, 6-3.
- Singles Semifinal: Justine Henin def. Timea Bacsinszky 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
- Singles Semifinal: Karin Knapp def. Na Li 6-4, 7-6.
- Doubles Final: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Kveta Peschke/Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 6-3.
- Doubles Semifinal: Cara Black/Liezel Huber def. Ekaterina Dzehalevich/Olga Govortsova 6-2, 3-6, 10-5.
- Doubles Semifinal: Kveta Peschke/Ai Sugiyama def. Alona Bodarenko/Kateryna Bodarenko 6-1, 6-1.
- Singles & Doubles Bracket
Cachantun Cup (WTA - Clay - Viña del Mar, Chile)
- Singles Final: Flavia Pennetta def. Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 5-4 (retired).
- Singles Semifinal: Flavia Pennetta def. Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 6-0.
- Singles Semifinal: Klara Zakopalova def. Mariya Koryttseva 6-2, 7-5.
- Doubles Final: Liga Dekmeijere/Alicja Rosolska def. Mariya Koryttseva/Julia Schruff 7-5, 6-3.
- Doubles Semifinal: Mariya Koryttseva/Julia Schruff def. Maria Fernanda Alves/Marie-Eve Pelletier 6-7, 6-4, 10-7.
- Doubles Semifinal: Liga Dekmeijere/Alicja Rosolska def. Klaudia Jens/Ipek Senoglu 6-3, 1-6, 10-6.
- Singles & Doubles Bracket
By the Letter
Will return next week.
McGrogan's Heroes
ATP - Kei Nishikori's surprise win at Delray Beach is even more stunning when you consider these facts:
- He had to qualify to get into the main draw, thus needing to win eight matches in order to win the title.
- He faced four consecutive match points in his semifinal against Sam Querrey (down 6-3 in the third-set tiebreaker).
- He played in only five other ATP-level tournaments prior to this week.
- He just turned 18 years old, and entered this tournament ranked No. 224 in the world.
In spite of all of this, Nishikori defied the odds and became the first Japanese player in 16 years to win an ATP Tour title after shocking James Blake in the final, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. For Blake, the loss is puzzling after playing so well in Delray all week, and prior to this in Davis Cup and at the Australian Open. But the bigger story is Nishikori, a name unfamiliar even to many diehard tennis fans.
As Nishikori progressed through the draw throughout the week, I tried to read as much as I could find about him online. One particular account of Kei caught my eye, saying that after watching only a few points of his, the reader knew he saw a special talent. The testimonial seemed a bit exaggerated, but when I finally saw Nishikori on television, it honestly only took a few points for me to get a similar impression.
Nishikori hits the ball spectacularly well, with visually appealing shots from the forehand and backhand side. He takes the racquet back similar to how Novak Djokovic does, and the manner in which his ground strokes are hit also emulates the Serbian star. Because of this, Nishikori generates a lot of top spin when he hits the ball. Coupling this gift with raw power, Nishikori took control of most extended rallies that he got involved in on Sunday. Blake found this out the hard way, scrambling on many occasions.
Things looked comfortable for Blake after he won the first set, but Nishikori stormed to a 4-0 lead in the second, and never looked back. He was broken only three times in the entire tournament, and when he was in trouble on serve late in the final, he played the pressure points better.
A critical juncture in the match saw Nishikori down 30-40 in the second game of the third set, with Blake up 1-0 in games. A poor start in the set could have spelled doom for Kei, but he played aggressively and confident on this break point, painting the lines with both a forehand and backhand that got the game to deuce. After saving additional break points in that game, he eventually held serve, and took control of the set with more consistent play than Blake, who looked rattled at times, which led to errors. Soon after, Kei was addressing the crowd as the champion, while Blake looked on for the second straight year.
(Coincidentally, Nishikori also dressed like Djokovic, donning the same Adidas apparel that Novak wore at the Australian Open. Thankfully, the excessive bouncing wasn't replicated.)
WTA - Looking at the early-season stops on the WTA Tour, the Tier III Cachantun Cup obviously doesn't have the same magnitude as the Australian Open, a historic Grand Slam tournament. But winning the title at each event is special, and is the goal of everyone who enters the draw.
In the 2006 Australian Open final, Amelie Mauresmo won her first ever Grand Slam tournament, shedding the scarlet letter of being without a major title that she wore for many years. But her celebration was more subdued than you'd expect from someone who made this breakthrough. Why? Because Henin retired in the final - citing a stomach flu - when she was down 1-6, 0-2, (see Tennis Theatre below for more about this).
Being denied the opportunity to win the climactic match point is an unfortunate occurrence, as neither player would prefer to see a match end in this fashion. But this sometimes happens, and it did this week in Viña del Mar, where Klara Zakopalova retired in the final against Flavia Pennetta (after a fall injured her left ankle). Of course, Pennetta was still thrilled to win the title, but acknowledged after the match that "it always feels better to play the last point and have the sensation of winning, but this happens." Still, the conclusion was an odd pill to swallow, even more so because Zakopalova retired as Pennetta was serving for the match, up 15-0 at 6-4, 5-4.
Pennetta played well all week, mowing through her half of the draw. No opponent ever won more than four games against her in a set, and her adversaries included three seeded players. A lopsided 6-2, 6-0 score in the semifinals against fourth-seeded Pauline Parmentier was a testament to Pennetta's fine play in Chile.
This title gives Flavia five for her career on the WTA Tour at the age of 25, a very impressive statistic. Four of these titles were on clay, but her last win on the dirt was nearly three years ago in Acapulco. The upcoming clay season will provide Pennetta more opportunities to add hardware to her collection, and she'd probably prefer a championship of greater significance, as all four clay titles were in Tier III tournaments. A dirtballer by trade, getting back to the winner's circle on her favorite surface was surely a relief, regardless of the type of tournament, and regardless of how the match ended.
Tennis Theatre
The debate about whether Justine Henin should have continued to play in the 2006 Australian Open final against Amelie Mauresmo is one that never truly seems to go away. Here's a video of an (awkward?) moment they shared after the match.
Next Week's Tournaments
***TELEVISION SCHEDULE***
ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament (ATP - Hard - Rotterdam, Netherlands)
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Bracket
- Website
Copa Telmex (ATP - Clay - Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Bracket
- Website
SAP Open (ATP - Hard - San Jose, United States)
- Singles Bracket
- Doubles Bracket
- Website
Copa Colsanitas Santander (WTA - Clay - Bogota, Colombia)
- Singles & Doubles Bracket
- Website
Qatar Total Open (WTA - Hard - Doha, Qatar)
- Singles & Doubles Bracket
- Website
Beyond the Bracket
The Tribe is chock-full of veterans who know everything about tennis, but I'm positive that we have some novices in our clan as well. This primer is for all of you out there.
I look at tournament brackets so often when writing this column that it has become second nature how to decipher them. And while they aren't some cryptic message that needs to be decoded (aside from the round-robin brackets from last year), there are some things that you should pay attention to when you are poring over a draw sheet. The name on the far right is ultimately the most important, but there's loads of other useful information as well.
Let's use this week's Promixus Diamond Games bracket as an example. One reason that I chose this bracket is because the link takes you to a .pdf file of the singles, doubles, and qualifying brackets. The WTA Tour smartly puts all of these pages onto one document, which is helpful to media types like myself. For reasons unknown to me, the ATP Tour keeps their S/D/Q brackets separate. If you are reading this, ATP employees, I ask you one request - combine these draws into one document. S/D/Q must rise up and unite!
The first thing I'd like to direct your attention to is the names of the tournament. Yes, names. In discussions about a particular tournament, it's very common to see different names interchanged in an article, or when speaking from person to person. Because of the money they have paid for naming rights, the title sponsor (in this case, Proximus, a mobile communications provider in Belgium) wants the tournament to be cited as its official name, the Proximus Diamond Games. But many people opt to call the tournament from where it is held, in this case, Antwerp. Thus, "Henin won in Antwerp" = "Henin won the Proximus Diamond Games". It sounds simple enough, but some tournaments seem to carry baggage of 4-5 different "names", and it's helpful to know what is actually what. The most dubious example I can think of is the ATP Masters Series Miami, which goes by:
- Miami Masters
- Key Biscayne
- Sony Ericsson Open
- AMS Miami
I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting too. The moral of the story is know each tournament's city and official name, even though many change from year to year.
The top-right corner of the singles bracket lists other important information, including the dates that the tournament is contested, what surface it is played on (very specifically, as noted by the Decoturf), the prize purse, and the level of the tournament. What appears on this part of the page directly correlates to the players who enter the event, with highly ranked players more likely to enter tournaments with bigger purses and higher tiers.
Looking at the bracket itself, before you read the names, read the symbols to the left of them. Numbers indicate the seed for the highest ranked entrants, while letters are used for players who entered the tournament by some special manner. "Q" is for someone who went through qualifying to enter (and you can see what matches they won in the qualifying bracket on the last page), "WC" is for someone granted a wild-card exemption to enter (usually because they are a crowd favorite that will generate more ticket sales), and "LL" denotes that the player is a "lucky loser." This means that although this player lost in qualifying, he/she got into the draw because another player withdrew. The reasons for these withdrawals are usually shown at the bottom of the page. In this case, Agnieszka Radwanska withdrew due to personal reasons, so Sofia Arvidsson was entered into the draw, despite her loss in the finals of qualifying.
At the bottom of the page lies a trove of other facts about the tournament for those interested. Prize money, ranking points, reasons players retired, and a full list of seeds are on display. But my favorite piece of information is also listed here - the "Last Direct Acceptance." This shows the world ranking of the last player who entered the draw that was not a qualifier, wild card, or lucky loser. I always take a look at this because it is one of the best indicators of how weak or strong a draw will be (the higher the ranking, the stronger the field). At Antwerp this week, Yaroslava Shvedova, the No. 84 ranked player in the world, was the last player admitted in. By contrast, in the Cachantun Cup in Vina del Mar, the last player directly accepted into the singles draw was ranked No. 134. Clearly, the stronger tournament from this perspective took place in Belgium.
Dig deep the next time you examine a bracket - there's a lot more than just the winner. And I apologize in advance for my language, but this deeper analysis truly goes "beyond the bracket."
If...
One of the first ever "If..." questions I posed asked if you would buy a tennis video game if EA Sports produced one. EA Sports is the undisputed titan of sports video games in the U.S., as they are responsible for numerous popular games that have been around for more than a decade (Madden 2008 and NHL '08 are some examples). But they have never, to my knowledge, made a tennis game here in the States.
Before you ask, I do play real tennis all the time, and much prefer it to a game on a PlayStation 3. But it's cold up here in Central New York, which means that finding a dry court is a rarity in the winter time. That's where video games come in to play.
Last week, I mentioned that I played Wii Tennis. This week, I got to play Virtua Tennis 3 for PlayStation 3. I've always wanted to play the next game in the series (Virtua Tennis for Sega Dreamcast was thoroughly entertaining), and I got to renting it a few days ago. While playing it, I kept in the back of my mind my thoughts about another next-gen tennis game, Top Spin 2, which I tried on the Xbox 360.
Each game is different - TS2 aims to be a true tennis simulation, while VT3 prides itself as an arcade-like experience. This means that you can return nearly any shot, no matter how hard it's hit, as long as you can get a racquet on it, and it's nearly impossible to hit a ball wide. Unforced errors are non-existent, and you'll see a nice winner each time. It's fun, but it can get old after a few plays.
Overall, VT3 is a good tennis game, but it's not a great one. The same goes for TS2, which is a serviceable tennis simulation, but it's far from a perfect one (you can read my full review of it here). This is why I would like to see EA Sports step up and make its own game, as I think their experience in the sports video game market could lead to a wildly entertaining yet realistic tennis game.
This is where you come in. A number of EA's games follow the "league-year" template (FIFA '04, NHL '04, etc.). But in the past, EA has sometimes experimented with more creative names (NBA Live '95, Triple Play 2000, Madden NFL 2003). So,
if...EA Sports made a tennis video game, what would you name it?
I hope to see a lot of responses on this question. The person who provides my favorite answer (leave in the comments) will get mailed to them, free of charge, a copy of Top Spin 2 for Xbox 360. Play the game, sell it on eBay for a few bucks, whip the disc at your friends - do whatever you want. But it's yours if you have the winning name. I would anticipate the name including the year (2008), but it's ultimately up to you.
